[cardcrimson]

Do any of the rest of y'all feel like the SEC is becoming more separated from the rest of the NCAA because it has emphasized sports so much that it has gained an unfair competitive advantage over everyone else?  I personally don't think schools that don't have aligned values should be competing against each other at the same level, operating with such resource disparities. Curious about what others think about this.

First, I think you're stating a belief that the schools in the SEC emphasize sports over perhaps academics as compared to schools in other conferences. I'd love to see proof of that. I know for a fact that schools in the SEC are pushing academics very hard, and the schools are improving. Even with the population growth in the South, more and more out of state students are attending SEC schools than ever before, Georgia for example is up 30%; Alabama is up 400% in out of state enrollment.

Aligned values? What values are those? Do you think Stanford and Arizona State have aligned values?

Resource disparities? Last I checked Harvard's endowment is larger than Stanfords. For the most part, the schools in the SEC are state funded and several are land-grant schools, all somewhat constrained financially.

I think part of the SECs recent success in baseball/football/basketball is two fold. First of all the Southeast is has seen tremendous economic growth, and has for the last twenty years. With that, has been population growth. So a larger population with more disposable income and larger state coffers. Second is the fan base. They actually care about the schools and the teams. While attendance is dropping in the SEC, I don't think it's by the extent that's occurring across the country. People still go to games.

[cardcrimson]

Do any of the rest of y'all feel like the SEC is becoming more separated from the rest of the NCAA because it has emphasized sports so much that it has gained an unfair competitive advantage over everyone else?  I personally don't think schools that don't have aligned values should be competing against each other at the same level, operating with such resource disparities. Curious about what others think about this.

First, I think you're stating a belief that the schools in the SEC emphasize sports over perhaps academics as compared to schools in other conferences. I'd love to see proof of that. I know for a fact that schools in the SEC are pushing academics very hard, and the schools are improving. Even with the population growth in the South, more and more out of state students are attending SEC schools than ever before, Georgia for example is up 30%; Alabama is up 400% in out of state enrollment.

Aligned values? What values are those? Do you think Stanford and Arizona State have aligned values?

Resource disparities? Last I checked Harvard's endowment is larger than Stanfords. For the most part, the schools in the SEC are state funded and several are land-grant schools, all somewhat constrained financially.

I think part of the SECs recent success in baseball/football/basketball is two fold. First of all the Southeast is has seen tremendous economic growth, and has for the last twenty years. With that, has been population growth. So a larger population with more disposable income and larger state coffers. Second is the fan base. They actually care about the schools and the teams. While attendance is dropping in the SEC, I don't think it's by the extent that's occurring across the country. People still go to games.